Wednesday, July 29, 2009

I have chronic ingrown hair infection. What is the best method of treatment?

I have dark spots all over my legs and pubic area which have accumulated over time. I have gone through so much pain numerous amounts of time the day prior to shaving. I know these become ingrown hairs, but they have become infected and spread leaving more dark spots which I think are scars left of ingrownhairs. How can I treat this? Are there over-the-counter antibiotics I can purchase? lotions or creams I can use? Any skin treatment methods you can suggest?

I have chronic ingrown hair infection. What is the best method of treatment?

What you have is not a scarring problem so much as a pigmentation problem. It's called traumatic hyperpigmentation, and it's common in folks with cafe au lait or caramel colored skin. It's a reaction to any sort of damage to the skin, be it from an ingrown hair, a pimple or a bug bite. Unfortunately there isn't a cure for it either. It's not a scar in the same sense that you would have a scar from being cut, so scar reduction creams won't work. You simply form more pigment at the site of an injury, and they don't work on pigment. Nothing does really. If you have a problem with ingrown hairs, you need to address the causes of that happening. For starters, you need to be sure you are using a very sharp razor blade, and not a dull one. You need to use plenty of shaving cream or gel to lubricate the skin as well. You can also help stave off ingrown hairs by using an exfolliant or a rough bath scrubbie in the tub or shower. I'm sorry, but those are really the only options you have, aside from not shaving at all. Or using an electric razor, which will not cut the hair below the skin line. As far as the spots, sometimes they fade with time, but if you truly have traumatic hyperpigmentation, it's going to happen any time the skin is damaged. Sorry, but that is the truth. The various skin lightening potions don't truly have any effect on them. They just remove a layer of dead skin, which tends to make them look lightened, at least until the skin deadens with age and exposure again. The effect is only temporary at best. You just have to limit the damage to the skin, that's the only thing you can do.

I have chronic ingrown hair infection. What is the best method of treatment?

Shave with the grain of the hair....that way they won't come up in the first place